Risotto doesn't always have to be a savory dish.  It can just as easily be a sweet and delious type of  pudding.  Something like this Vanilla Risotto here today.  People can be a little put off and afraid of making risotto . . .fearing that it is a bit too complicate or time consuming, but it really isn't.



It does require constant attention however, but so long as you stay with it and do what the recipe says, you will always be rewarded at the end with something quite silky and delicious, with just a tiny bit of bite.



This risotto is not overly sweet . . . the only sweetening being a bit of honey . . . it's nicely flavoured with vanilla . . . and just a hint of ground cinnamon and ground cardamom.  Warm sweet spices that go so well with both vanilla and pears . . .

 

Oh yes . . . the pears.  Oven roasted until just tender and then peeled . . . the oven roasting bringing out their natural sweetness.   Tender and sweet, sitting in an ocean of that delicious vanilla risotto.  Impressive.  Simple.  Delicious.  What more could a person ask for?



Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Once it begins to foam add the rice.   Cook, stirring to toast the rice for several minutes.  Add the Orange Liqueur.  Let the rice absorb it.  Begin to add the heated milk/cream mixture, a small ladle full at a time, allowing the rice to absorb most of the milk before adding another ladle full until most of the milk is absorbed and the rice is slightly al dente with a creamy sauce. (You may need additional milk)  This will take about 25 minutes.    Add the honey into it towards the end of the cooking time, along with a pinch each of cardamon and cinnamon.  Taste and adjust as necessary, adding additional honey if need be.


Peel your pears and place one into each of four dessert dishes.  Spoon the  risotto around the pears.  Drizzle with some warm honey and dust with a bit of cinnamon.  Serve immediately.

 

I love suppers that I can just throw together during the week, that are fairly inexpensive, quick to make, use store cupboard ingredients and that are just as tasty as can be.  Recipes like this deliciously quick Chicken Fried Rice I am showing you here today.



Not only does it go together lickety split, but it uses things I normally have in my cupboards and freezer.   For instance it uses one of the steam pouches from those packages of frozen steam vegetables you can get.  Just the perfect size for this.



I also always have individual frozen chicken breasts in my freezer as well.  I just buy packages of them and freeze them separated on a baking tray.  Then I wrap them well and keep them frozen in a zip lock baggie. That way I can take out just what I want, when I want . . . and they thaw out quickly as well, as they aren't stuck together in a huge mass.  Handy hint there people!



I always have pineapple chunks in the cupboard.  They are often on special and when they are I usually buy several tins to have on hand.  We like to eat them just as they are and I like to use them in stir fries, etc.



They also often have those pouches of cooked rice on for £1 and when they do I buy lots.  It comes in ever so handy for all sorts . . . soups, casseroles, etc.  It's false economy to have to heat up the stove to just cook a little bit of rice.



 I added some liquid honey and soy, other things I always have, and some Chinese Five Spice powder, another store cupboard ingredient.  A few minutes work and presto chango, we have dinner on the table and it's delicious!

I love it when that happens, don't you?




Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the onion.   Cook and stir for several minutes.  Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for several minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.  Toss in the drained veggies.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring until they are done.  Stir in the rice and heat through.  Add the beaten egg, and cook, stirring to distribute the egg throughout until the egg is cooked.   Stir in the pineapple and heat through.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary and then serve immediately.



NOTE:  This is also very easily multiplied to serve more people than just two.  I do hope you'll give it a try!  You can also add some garlic if you wish.

I like to put a dollop of raspberry jam in the bottom of the serving dishes and then spoon the warm rice pudding over top.  You can serve this warm or at room temperature.  It is delicious either way.

I am quite sure that if you were to look up the word comfort in a dictionary, you would find the words "Rice Pudding." written there in black and white . . . perhaps with a tasty picture that would speak a thousand words about just how tasty and soulful Rice Pudding really is . . .

No???? Well, then they certainly should be!!!



What else speaks of home and love and comfort in such a cozy way.

Milk, rice, cream . . . sugar . . .



Old fashioned flavours . . .

perhaps . . .



Simple . . . yes . . .

Delicious . . . absolutely.




*The Best Rice Pudding Ever*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe


Creamy and rich, this is our favourite rice pudding. I clipped the recipe from out of a newspaper many years ago and the page is a bit tattered and spotted with time, which just goes to show that it's well loved and much used!

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups cream
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 strip of lemon peel, the pith discarded
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup sugar
2 ounces flaked almonds, toasted and crushed with your fingers
To Serve:
1 1/2 cups tart cherries (tinned or frozen)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1 1/2 TBS cherry liqueur (optional)



First make the cherry sauce. Combine the cherries, 1/4 cup of their juices, the sugar and 1/4 cup of water in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Mix the cornflour with 2 tsp of water. Stir into the cherries. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 5 minutes until thickened. Stir in the cherry liqueur, if using. Set aside.

Place the milk, cream, vanilla bean and it's seeds, cinnamon stick, cardamom and lemon zest in a large saucepan. bring almost to the boil, then add the rice. Return to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the sugar and stir until it is dissolved. Simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is completely softened, tender and creamy. Remove from the heat. Take out the cinnamon stick, vanilla bean and the lemon peel. Stir in the almonds.

Serve the rice pudding in bowls with a dollop of the cherry sauce spooned on top. Serve immediately.

Note - Rice is one of those foods that you really need to handle with care. Improper handling of cooked rice is one of the leading causes of food poisoning in restaurants, and in fact I never re-heat my rice at home. What doesn't get eaten on the day, gets tossed. Make sure that you cool it down quickly after cooking, and chill it thoroughly, and then, if you are going to re-heat, that you are sure to re-heat it to a very high temperature, all the way through to the middle.

The missionaries are coming over for supper tonight and I wanted to cook something that was not only delicious and easy, but quick and comforting. I had in mind to buy a chicken and then make a chicken pot pie with it . . .



But then I got to the store, they had cooked Rotisserie Chickens on special at 2 for £7, and so I bought two already cooked chickens. I know . . . me<---Bad.



Nevermind . . . you can never have too much cooked chicken in the house. It comes in handy for all sorts . . . things like sandwiches, casseroles, wraps, enchiladas, etc. After much thought, I decided to make them this delicious Crispy Chicken Casserole. It's a recipe that is a conglomeration . . . a put-together of all the best bits of different chicken casseroles I have tried through the years.



For instance, I loved the use of a wild rice mix in one casserole I tried once upon a time. I love the flavours of summer savoury and the sweetness of dried cranberries . . . almost a stuffing type of taste combination.



I like the crunchiness of celery and flaked almonds which I experienced in another one . . . but I have never been overly fond of tinned soups, as handy to use as they may be from time to time. And so I made a chicken flavoured bechamel sauce to use instead.



Topped with some buttery crushed rice crispies and more flaked almonds, I think you'll find this casserole to be quite delightful. Ok . . . with all the butter in it, you might not want to eat it often . . . but when you want something that's just that little bit special and over the top, this fits the bill quite nicely.



*Crispy Chicken Casserole*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

This is my favourite Chicken casserole. It's a combination of all of the best bits of different chicken casseroles I have liked through the years, and it doesn't use tinned soup.

3 stalks of celery, washed trimmed and chopped (about 1 cup)
1 TBS butter
2 cups of cubed cooked chicken (about 4 single breasts cooked)
1 pouch cooked basamati and wild rice mix (2 serving sized pouch)
4 spring onions, chopped
a further 2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 chicken stock sachet
500ml of milk (2 cups)
1 tsp dried summer savoury crumpled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 heaped dessertspoons of low fat mayonnaise (about 3/4 cup)
two small handfuls of dried cranberries (about half a cup)
2 small handfuls of flaked almonds (about half a cup)

For the topping:
1 TBS butter, melted
a mug of rice crispies, crushed coarsely
a generous handful of flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready a 2 litre gratin dish, lightly buttered. Place the first amount of butter and the celery into a microwaveable bowl. Cover and cook on high for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Melt the second amount of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in the summer savoury, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Mix all together well. Gently mix together the celery mixture, chicken, chopped spring onions, cranberries, flaked almonds and rice in a bowl. Add the milk mixture and stir gently to coat. Scrape into the prepared baking dish.

Mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle over top of the casserole. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

You can pick up some tasty little goodies in the grocery store, and I'm not just talking about food. For years now I have been collecting little recipe cards, pamphlets and booklets that I thought had tasty recipes in or on them.



I have quite a collection as you can imagine. The recipes are normally quite, quite tasty. My favourites have always been the Waitrose Cards, but I have found little gems in most of the shops.



I even have some very old Robin Hood baking pamplets that I had collected when I was a girl. They're just lovely. This recipe here today came from a magazine clipping advertising chicken tenders.



I have adapted it somewhat and it is a recipe we both really enjoy. It gives us a tasty dinner on the day and then leftovers to stick in the freezer for another time. It has just enough spice to suit our tastes, with middle eastern flavours. The frozen peas are my addition . . . because they add colour and texture and we like them.



Quick, easy and a great way to stretch a pound of chicken, this recipe pleases on many levels. I forgot to sprinkle the chopped nuts on top today . . . so you'll just have to imagine how pretty it is with them added!




*Golden Rice and Chicken Pilaf*Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a quickie dish that I adapted some years ago from one of those booklets you pick up in the grocery store. It's delicious and always more than welcome.

2 tsp oil
1 pound fresh chicken tenders (or the equivalent of boneless, skinless chicken breast,
cut into strips, crossways)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
210g of uncooked regular long grain rice (1 cup)
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
a handful of sultana raisins
a handful of chopped dried apricots
1 heaped tsp of curry powder (I use a medium strength)
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp salt
500ml of chicken broth
white pepper to taste
a handful of frozen petit pois
to garnish:
chopped toasted almonds or pistachio nuts

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the chicken and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and the onion is softened. Stir in the rice, spices and the carrot and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until very fragrant. Stir in the fruit and broth, mixing all together well. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook, covered for about 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed. Take off the heat, stir in the petit pois and set aside, covered, for about 5 minutes. Fluffy up the rice and serve immediately, garnished with some toasted nuts if desired.



Over in The Cottage today, Aunt Fern's Coconut Cookies.